This is a follow-up to my previous post about my mother-in-law which kind of sparked this question.
As rational individuals, what do you think about people who claim to have knowledge that is not currently known by scientific fields?
My Mother-In-Law is convinced her knowledge is demonstrable and can be explained scientifically and can be verified by peer review; but she refuses to explain anything.

Some people feel more powerful if they know something you don’t, even if it has to be made up. Look how many conspiracy theories abound. She wants to feel special and imo I don’t think you have a snowball’s chance in hell of dissuading her that she isn’t one of the cool kids in the “in” crowd.

“I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.”~Mark Twain
“Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.”~ Ambrose Bierce

(11-12-2016 05:33 PM)Larai19 Wrote: As rational individuals, what do you think about people who claim to have knowledge that is not currently known by scientific fields?

There are a very few rare examples where this has turned out to be accurate. Archimedes, Einstein and similar historical examples. They are the exceptions to PT Barnum's rule. It's much more common for such individuals to turn out to be dishonest, delusional or just plain wrong.

Quote:My Mother-In-Law is convinced her knowledge is demonstrable and can be explained scientifically and can be verified by peer review; but she refuses to explain anything.

Then her claim is utterly baseless. Any fool can claim that their mumbo-jumbo is backed by peer-reviewed evidence, but evidence is that which is seen. If she isn't going to show you anything then what she has isn't evidence, it's an unsubstantiated opinion. At best.

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Flesh and blood of a dead star, slain in the apocalypse of supernova, resurrected by four billion years of continuous autocatalytic reaction and crowned with the emergent property of sentience in the dream that the universe might one day understand itself.

She has, apparently, joined a secret society where they have access to knowledge that none but the initiated can know. She hasn't explained anything beyond that she believes she has conjured things.

Oh. She's joined a cult! The only thing she's likely to conjur is her own wits clean out of her skull.

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Flesh and blood of a dead star, slain in the apocalypse of supernova, resurrected by four billion years of continuous autocatalytic reaction and crowned with the emergent property of sentience in the dream that the universe might one day understand itself.